Editing Mail-order bride (section)

===South Korea===
''[[The New York Times]]'' reports, "Every month, hundreds of South Korean men fly to Vietnam, the Philippines, Nepal and Uzbekistan on special trips. An agent escorts each man to see many women in a single day, sometimes all gathered in the same hall".<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/world/asia/foreign-brides-challenge-south-korean-prejudices.html|title=Foreign brides challenge South Korean prejudices|first=Choe|last=Sang-Hun|date=24 June 2005|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112060708/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/world/asia/foreign-brides-challenge-south-korean-prejudices.html|archive-date=12 November 2016|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Although these marriages can be successful, in some cases immigrant wives are mistreated, misunderstood and separated from their Korean husbands.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> One method men use when choosing young girls as wives is "Like a judge in a beauty pageant, the man interviews the women, many of them 20 years younger than he, and makes a choice".<ref name="nytimes.com"/> The British newspaper ''The Independent'' reports, "Last year it was reported that more than 40,000 Vietnamese women have married South Korean men and migrated there."<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/mailorder-bride-killed-by-husband-2028705.html|title=Mail-order bride killed by husband|work=The Independent|access-date=8 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925184329/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/mailorder-bride-killed-by-husband-2028705.html|archive-date=25 September 2015}}</ref> Cambodian women are also popular with Korean men seeking foreign brides, but in March 2010 the Cambodian government banned marriages to South Korean men.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/03/22/2010032200462.html|title=The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea – Cambodia Bans Marriage to Korean Men|access-date=8 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304233133/http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/03/22/2010032200462.html|archive-date=4 March 2015}}</ref>

''[[The Korea Times]]'' reports that every year, thousands of Korean men sign up for matches with Filipina brides through agencies and by mail order. Based on data from the Korean government, there are 6,191 Filipinas in South Korea who are married to Koreans.<ref>[https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/211_53320.html koreatimes.co.kr] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201072334/http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/211_53320.html/ |date=1 February 2017 }} This is only the women from the Philippines.</ref> After contacting a mail-order agency, the majority of Filipina mail-order brides met their husbands by attending "show-ups", a meeting in which a group of Filipina women are brought to meet a Korean man who is looking for a wife. At the show-up the Korean man picks a prospective wife from among the group, and in a matter of days they are married.<ref name="The Korea Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/211_53320.html|title=Filipina Mail-Order Brides Vulnerable to Abuse|date=11 October 2009|work=[[The Korea Times]]|access-date=1 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201072334/http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/211_53320.html/|archive-date=1 February 2017}}</ref>

An anthropological study on Filipina wives and Korean men by professor Kim Min-jung of the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Kangwon National University found that these Korean men find it difficult to marry Korean women, so they look for girls in poorer countries with difficult economic circumstances.<ref name="The Korea Times"/> The Korean men feel that because of the difficult circumstances from which the Filipina women come, cultural differences and the language barrier, they "will not run away". Further, she said, Korean men characterize Southeast Asian women as friendly, hardworking (due to agrarian backgrounds), "docile and obedient, able to speak English, and are familiar with Korean patriarchal culture".<ref name="The Korea Times"/>

A recent study by matchmaking firm Bien-Aller polled 274 single South Korean men through its website concerning motivations for marrying non-Korean women and found that men choose foreign brides primarily for one of four reasons. "According to the poll, 32.1 percent of the men said they felt the biggest benefit of marrying foreign women is their lack of interest in their groom's educational background and financial or social status. The next best reason was their belief that foreign brides would be submissive (23 percent), make their lives more comfortable (15.3 percent), and that the men would not have to get stressed about their in-laws (13.8 percent)."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/10/18/2012101800458.html |title=Why Korean Men Marry Foreign Women |publisher=The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition) |date=18 October 2012 |access-date=2013-03-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315032100/http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/10/18/2012101800458.html |archive-date=2013-03-15 }}</ref>

The majority of mail order brides from China to South Korea consist of [[Koreans in China|Chinese citizens of Korean ethnicity]].<ref name="ChoSurendra2012">{{cite book|author1=Hee-Yeon Cho|author2=Lawrence Surendra|author3=Hyo-Je Cho|title=Contemporary South Korean Society: A Critical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9XaiW7R4NkC&q=chinese+korean+south+korean+marriage&pg=PA24|date=12 November 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-19128-2|pages=24–}}</ref><ref name="Kim2010">{{cite book|author=Hyejin Kim|title=International Ethnic Networks and Intra-Ethnic Conflict: Koreans in China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZ3IAAAAQBAJ&q=chinese+korean+south+korean+marriage&pg=PA175|date=8 June 2010|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-10772-4|pages=175–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sounds of Chinese Korean: A Variationist Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d513kLszf0AC&q=chinese+korean+south+korean+marriage&pg=PA13|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-64819-2|pages=13–}}</ref><ref name="Chʻoe2003">{{cite book|author=In-bŏm Chʻoe|title=The Korean Diaspora in the World Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3twZUkqE5NkC&q=chinese+korean+south+korean+marriage&pg=PA116|date=1 January 2003|publisher=Peterson Institute|isbn=978-0-88132-358-0|pages=116–}}</ref><ref name="NaerssenSpaan2008">{{cite book|author1=Ton van Naerssen|author2=Ernst Spaan|author3=Annelies Zoomers|title=Global Migration and Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zGOUAgAAQBAJ&q=china+ethnic+korean+brides+south+korea&pg=PA271|date=13 February 2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-89630-0|pages=271–}}</ref><ref name="PalmerRoberts2011">{{cite book|author1=John D. Palmer|author2=Amy Roberts|author3=Young Ha Cho|author4=Gregory S. Ching|title=The Internationalization of East Asian Higher Education: Globalization's Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQLHAAAAQBAJ&q=china+ethnic+korean+brides+south+korea&pg=PA100|date=9 November 2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-00200-6|pages=100–}}</ref><ref name="Constable2010">{{cite book|author=Nicole Constable|title=Cross-Border Marriages: Gender and Mobility in Transnational Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZtSe2-sr_EC&q=chinese+korean+south+korean+marriage&pg=PA107|date=3 August 2010|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0064-5|pages=107–}}</ref><ref name="Steinberg2010">{{cite book|author=David I Steinberg|title=Korea's Changing Roles in Southeast Asia: Expanding Influence and Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PnVF8G9rCjcC&q=china+ethnic+korean+brides+south+korea&pg=PA316|year=2010|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-969-3|pages=316–}}</ref><ref name="YangLu2010">{{cite book|author1=Wen-Shan Yang|author2=Melody Chia-Wen Lu|title=Asian Cross-border Marriage Migration: Demographic Patterns and Social Issues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mC6nKkhwrjwC&q=chinese+korean+yanbian+ethnic++liaoning+brides&pg=PA135|year=2010|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-8964-054-3|pages=135–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/chinapolicyinstitute/2014/02/10/chinese-foreign-marriage-in-mainland-china/|title=Chinese-foreign Marriage in Mainland China|date=10 February 2014|work=nottingham.ac.uk|access-date=1 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20170202054644/http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/chinapolicyinstitute/2014/02/10/chinese-foreign-marriage-in-mainland-china/|archive-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=March 2025}}

====Violence against foreign brides in South Korea====
In June 2013, The Philippine embassy in Seoul reported that it had received many complaints from Filipinas who have married Korean men through mail-order, frequently becoming "victims of grave abuses".<ref name="abs-cbnnews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/06/27/13/philippines-rescues-29-mail-order-brides-south-korea|title=Philippines rescues 29 mail-order brides to South Korea|agency=Agence France-Presse|work=abs-cbnnews.com|date=27 June 2013|access-date=1 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701030759/http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/06/27/13/philippines-rescues-29-mail-order-brides-south-korea|archive-date=1 July 2013}}</ref> The Philippine police rescued 29 mail-order brides on their way to marry South Korea men whom Chief Superintendent Reginald Villasanta, head of an organised crime task force, says were "duped into promises of an instant wealthy life through marriage with Korean gentlemen". The women were advertised in online and offline "catalogs" to South Korean men. In many cases however, victims were fed false information about the background of their future spouse and family, and suffered abuse from the South Korean men, which led to "abandonment of the marital home, separation and divorce", Villasanta said.<ref name="abs-cbnnews.com"/>

There have been several murders of mail-order brides in South Korea. On 24 May 2011, one South Korean man "stabbed his Vietnamese wife to death while the couple's 19-day-old baby lay next to her. The man, a farmer, had been matched up with his foreign bride through a broker. In 2010, another Vietnamese woman was killed by her husband a week after they were married. In 2008, a Vietnamese woman jumped from an apartment building to her death after being abused by her husband and mother-in-law."<ref name="independent.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/south-korea/110601/vietnam-integration-foreign-brides?page=0,0|title=For better or worse: foreign brides in South Korea|work=GlobalPost|access-date=8 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017094131/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/south-korea/110601/vietnam-integration-foreign-brides?page=0,0|archive-date=17 October 2015}}</ref>

In November 2009, Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Luis T. Cruz warned Filipina women against marrying Korean men. He said in recent months that the Philippine Embassy in Seoul has received complaints from Filipina wives of abuses committed by their Korean husbands that caused separation, divorce and abandonment.<ref name="The Korea Times"/><ref>[http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/pinoy-migration/11/22/09/korea-–-pinoy-mixed-marriages-and-tensions-multicultural-family abs-cbnnews.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402162906/http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/pinoy-migration/11/22/09/korea-%E2%80%93-pinoy-mixed-marriages-and-tensions-multicultural-family |date=2 April 2013 }}</ref> As language and cultural differences become an issue, the Filipina women are regarded as commodities bought for a price.<ref name="The Korea Times"/>